on

od perfectly still, the scent of roasting garlic and blooming ivy masking the faint smoke of my

ping a thick envelope of cash t

ed, his eyes narrowed. "Specifically, Grayson

oked at her in the garden, she was still trying to win the affection of that wort

ing smirk touching my lips. If she wanted to play the d

mercy. "Feed the maid a fabricated list. Make sure it includ

trace of almond would send my nephew into a

ella

like a gilded cage, but t

t with triumph. "I got it, Miss. It cost a fo

ions." Wagner operas? Modernist poetry? I highly doubted a brute like Grayson could comprehend T.S

ffectionate fiancée required the perfect prop. I would drown him in sticky swee

folding the paper. "I

ry at Columbia University. I smoothed the skirt of my conservative green

ds, laughing loudly. I forced my features into a mas

und fragile and innocent. "I wanted to apologize

public display of subservience. He snatched the box, popping a piece of the almond confecti

ing my revulsion, and

ench across the quad when Alice O'D

rayson collapsed! He started turning purple and couldn't breathe. They had to ru

d a beat. *Anap

cloying gesture. I had no idea he was deathly allergic to almond

ispered, carefully

ession at Trinity College. I felt a newfound surge of confidence, completely unaware that the true